Have you heard of special laws governing the adoption of children who are of Native American descent? In the US, children who are Native American fall under a specific law called the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which can govern their adoptive and foster placements.

T interviews Johnston Moore about ICWA. They discuss the origins and intentions of the federal law and its ongoing application. Originally created to ensure the rights of Native Americans, Moore says that the law is sometimes used to make decisions that may not be in the best interests of children.

Johnston Moore belongs to a network of activists working to amend the law. If you wish to contact him, he can be reached at http://www.home-4-ever.org

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D & K introduce the first “loin child” into the podcast. Baby Mercy entered their home and Dillon and Austin have accepted her with open arms and love. Hear the update on their family as they all adjust to being a family of five.

They wrestled with how to tell Dillon’s kindergarten class about his life before adoption, but thanks to your help they found a way to overcome their lack of knowledge and affirm his adoption.

We made this short video to explain what it’s like to be a foster parent

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Yes, we’re back with a new episode. This one breaks a record set many years ago. Catch up on our life and all the decisions that are forming our family. We’ve also got a number of questions for our co-hosts.

We’ll be a part of a foster parenting panel at Orphan Summit. Make sure to say “hi” if you’re there. http://www.summitviii.org/

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D & K are back with a new episode. They welcomed in a short term placement with some unexpected visitors, transitioned her to another foster home and celebrated their first ever “familiversary”. Hear how Dillon and Austin are transitioning into permanence and how the entire family is preparing for the addition of a brand new “loin child”.

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T & W field a listener question about the appropriateness of celebrating a foster placement. Is it born of tragedy or is it a cause for joy? We also discuss the Penn State child abuse scandal and the latest in our lives.

If you ever need to report child abuse call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD

We recently were able to participate in the annual Together for Adoption Conference. This episode is based on the breakout session we led there.

We’ve heard a lot of stories about foster care. Sometimes the stories are in the news, sometimes we hear them from people we know, and sometimes strangers volunteer their perspectives. Rather than sweeping the dirt under the rug, we think we should talk about it.

So this episode is our attempt to confront negative stories about foster care experiences. We talk about abusive foster parents, delays in the adoption process, biased social workers and judges, and the pain of getting attached and having to say goodbye.

Come see us in person and enjoy other great speakers at the KidBridge Seminar in Rolling Hills Estates, CA on Saturday, October 29!

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T & W respond to a listener question about privacy and security in foster care. We run down the steps we take to insure the privacy and safety of our family.

Also! We’ll be speaking at the Together for Adoption Conference in Phoenix. The conference is October 21-22, 2011. Hope to see you there. Register here.

If you’d like to hear another podcast about foster parenting, you should check out “Our Foster Parenting Experience” Check it out here and here.

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D&K prepare to send Dillon off to Kindergarten and deal with Austin’s memories and fantasies about his previous foster mom. They also prepare for a new short-term placement. All comments about college football are welcome.

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